BOX SCORE

#12/19 New Haven (0-1) at West Chester (1-0) 9/7/2013 | West Chester, Pa. | Attendance: 5,597 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final  New Haven 0 7 0 7 14  West Chester 10 21 0 14 45  Scoring  1st Quarter  11:35 WCU - Rondell White 10 yd run (Shawn Leo kick)  00:08 WCU - Shawn Leo 25 yd field goal  2nd Quarter  07:14 UNH - Ronnie Nelson 1 yd run (A. Greenfield kick)  03:17 WCU - Rondell White 13 yd pass from Sean McCartney (Shawn Leo kick)  02:05 WCU - Erick Brundidge 46 yd pass from Sean McCartney (Shawn Leo kick)  00:58 WCU - Rondell White 3 yd run (Shawn Leo kick)  4th Quarter  11:24 WCU - LaRonn Lee 13 yd pass from Sean McCartney (Shawn Leo kick)  01:52 WCU - Eddie Elliott 50 yd run (Shawn Leo kick)  00:32 UNH - Henry Adegunle 24 yd pass from Ronnie Nelson (A. Greenfield kick)  Team Statistics UNH WCU  First Downs 18 24  Net Yards Rushing 193 225  Net Yards Passing 102 290  Total Offensive Yards 295 515  Punts-Yards 6-189 2-69  Kickoffs-Yards 2-111 8-451  Time of Possession 27:53 32:07  Third-Down Conversions 4-of-13 6-of-13  Fourth-Down Conversions 1-of-3 2-of-3  Red-Zone Scores-Chances 1-2 5-6  Sack By: Number-Yards 0-0 1-9  PAT Kicks 2-2 6-6  Field Goals 0-0 1-2  Related Links Box Score Photo Gallery

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - The nationally ranked No. 12/19 University of New Haven football team dropped its 2013 season opener 45-14 at West Chester University Saturday afternoon. The Chargers, trailing 10-7 midway through the second quarter, gave up three touchdowns late in the first half and never recovered.

Led by the legs of Rondell White and arm of Sean McCartney, West Chester went on a 35-0 run during a stretch in the middle of the game. The Chargers' two scores came midway through the second quarter and late in the fourth.

New Haven amassed 295total yards, including 193 on the ground. Senior quarterback Ronnie Nelson (Stuart, Fla./South Fork ) led the team rushing with 57 yards on 12 carries. He also scored the team's only rushing touchdown. Mike DeCaro (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay ) added 56 rushing yards off 11 carries. Nelson also threw for 102 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 15-of-26 passing.

Defensively, UNH gave up 225 rushing yards and 290 passing yards. Defensive back Najae Brown (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount St. Michael / Trinity Pawling) led the squad with 11 total tackles, including five solo stops. Linebacker Andre Lawrence (Hartford, Conn./Hartford Public / Boston College) added 10 tackles. The interior defensive line was led by Sean Berglund (Wolcott, Conn./Wolcott) with seven tackles and one tackle-for-loss.

After deferring the coin toss, New Haven began 2013 on defense. The Golden Rams earned great field position off the opening kickoff as Rondell White returned the ball 49 yards to New Haven's 40 yard line. The senior later capped the opening drive for West Chester with a 10-yard touchdown run on the eighth play of the series.

The Chargers first possession of the game began at its own 46 yard line after a 45-yard kickoff return by DeCaro. The senior running back highlighted a six play drive with an 11-yard rush to bring the ball into West Chester territory. On a fourth-and-four attempt, Nelson completed a three-yard pass to DeCaro, who came shy of earning a first down.

After taking over on downs, WCU marched inside New Haven's 10 yard line on seven plays. With first-and-goal at New Haven's five yard line, the Chargers held strong on four consecutive running plays to hold West Chester scoreless. White ran the ball three-straight times, while quarterback Sean McCartney attempted a keeper on fourth-and-goal from inside the one. Sean Berglund (Wolcott, Conn./Wolcott) and Brent MacLeod (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) came up with the stop and UNH took over possession at its own one yard line with 5:17 left in the first quarter.

The Chargers went three-and-out on their next series and West Chester once again took over ball control with 3:36 left in the first half. Another 10-play drive was sealed with a 25-yard field goal by Shawn Leo with eight seconds left in the opening quarter.

New Haven then began its only scoring drive of the first three quarters, in the closing seconds of the first. The Chargers went 65 yards for a touchdown on 15 plays during the first 7:50 of the second quarter to bring the score to 10-7. The drive included 13 running plays, including a 13-yard carry by Nelson. The Stuart, Fla. native also capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown scramble near the right edge of West Chester's endzone.

During the final seven minutes of the second quarter, the Golden Rams took a commanding lead in the game. WCU scored three touchdowns and jumped out to a 31-7 lead prior to halftime. The Rams first points of the run came after an eight-play, 54-yard drive with 3:17 left in the second quarter. Nelson was picked off by Shawn Krautzel on the third play of the Chargers' next drive and gave WCU great field position at UNH's 46 yard line. The Golden Rams needed just one play to take a 24-7 as McCartney found the hands of Erick Brundidge in the endzone. The Chargers were forced to go three-and-out on their next series and as Anthony Greenfield (Bloomfield, N.J./Paramus Catholic / Wagner) attempted to punt, WCU blocked the ball and recovered at New Haven's three yard line. White carried the ball once and scored West Chester's third touchdown in the final 3:17 of the first half.

In the first stanza, UNH ran for 103 yards on 21 carries, including 55 yards from DeCaro. Nelson went 8-for-13 with one interception and 39 yards. McCartney led the Golden Rams with 189 yards and two touchdowns off 12-of-15 passing.  White gained 47 yards on 17 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns.

The very short third quarter featured three possessions by both teams and no scoring. The Chargers were the only team inside the redzone during the quarter. On its second drive of the half, New Haven marched to West Chester's 16 yard line before it faced a fourth-and-three. Nelson, who previously in the drive scrambled for 29 yards, saw pressure off the left edge and was sacked on fourth down.

West Chester also registered one scoring opportunity in the third quarter, but missed a 48-yard field goal attempt which ended an 11-play drive.

Both teams exchanged punts in the closing four minutes of the third quarter and the game remained in favor of WCU at 31-7 after three.

The Golden Rams took their opening drive of the fourth quarter and went 62 yards on 10 plays during a 4:38 stretch. The drive ended with a 13-yard pass touchdown from McCartney to LaRonn Lee with 11:24 left in the game. After a successful point after, the Chargers trailed 38-7.

New Haven's next two drives both stalled and ended in punts, while West Chester scored once more in the final five minutes. The Golden Rams went 78 yards on six rush attempts and Eddie Elliott sealed the drive with a 50-yard touchdown run through New Haven's defense. He helped put West Chester ahead 45-7 with 1:52 left in the fourth quarter.

New Haven's final series of the game went 79 yards on five plays during a stretch of just 1:20. Nelson concluded the stretch with a 24-yard touchdown strike to sophomore Henry Adegunle (Rockaway, N.Y./Channel View) with 32-second left in regulation.

The loss was the first season-opening defeat since 2003 for New Haven. The 31-point differential was also the largest since 2003 when UNH fell 41-7 at Fordham.

New Haven returns to action in its 2013 home and Northeast-10 Conference opener against Pace University. Game time at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium is set for 1 p.m.